I am a theatre maker and opera and theatre director.

I grew up in New Delhi in the 70s and Warsaw in the mid-80s. After studying English and Theatre at the University of East Anglia, I spent 2 years training with Jacques Lecoq in Paris. On leaving France in 1997, I founded ‘theatre O’, making original theatre work and touring it around the world. Alongside my work with theatre O, I freelance as a Director in theatre, opera, dance and film.

I make work that is challenging and accessible, moving and intelligent. With my own creations I have toured all over the world and have been co-produced in the UK by the Barbican and the Young Vic. As an opera freelancer I have worked as both a Director and a Movement Director, helping stage productions at the Royal Opera House, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Bolshoi, Staatsoper Berlin and Opéra Comique in Paris amongst others. I have taught and led workshops in New York, Beijing, Paris, Aix and London. I have worked with full opera companies and small scale Academy productions. I love doing all of these things.

I excel at building a strong ensemble and bringing out natural and personal performances from the cast. My background is a physical and visual one, and my work is always dynamic, with a humorous eye on human behaviour and psychology. I love to find sharp and imaginative ways to tell stories, to discover new stories and to look at old stories in a new light. I am interested in bringing different disciplines together and have experience across the worlds of theatre, opera, dance and film.

In the music and dance world, I have worked on the development of new opera at Snape Maltings, and new dance in Cuba. With composer, Ed Jessen, I have worked on two new pieces, Gallup Memo and the world premier of Syllable. I have made three films with artist Daria Martin, who went on to win the Derek Jarman Film Award in 2018.. I have developed work with dancer Mara Galeazzi and a new performance piece with choreographer Kihako Narisawa in Basel. I have mentored artists for the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in Warsaw and I have a level 2 Restorative Justice qualification.

+44 7887 523 688 / joseph@theatreO.co.uk

Agent: Simon Blakey/The Agency - sblakey@theagency.co.uk

PROJECTS

AS DIRECTOR

For theatre O:

Sheriff - Shoreditch Town Hall
The Secret Agent - Young Vic and UK tour
Delirium - Barbican and UK/Ireland tour
Astronaut - Barbican and UK tour
The Argument - Barbican and world tour
The Lesson - BAC
3 Dark Tales - Barbican and world tour
Bond - BAC London and UK tour

Freelance:

OMG (Observation, Motivation, Glamorisation) - a cross-discipline project with Kihako Narisawa - Roxy Theatre, Basel
Old Poems, New Voices; Adam Mickiewicz’s Ballads and Romances - Polish Cultural Institute, London
The Bear (Walton) - The Royal Danish Opera Academy
Ariodante - The Royal Danish Opera Academy
Syllable - World Premier, Trinity Laban
La Finta Giardiniera - Royal Danish Opera Academy
Cosi Fan Tutte - Royal Danish Opera Academy
Tonight the World - Film with Daria Martin - Associate Director
Lessons in Love and Violence - Royal Opera House, (dir. Katie Mitchell) - Associate Director
Pelleas et Melisande - Wielki Opera House, Warsaw - Revival Director
Alcina - Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow - Revival Director
Et c’est ainsi que cet obscur temps s’achève… - Festival d'Aix en Provence
Life Story - Festival d'Aix en Provence
The Hunger Artist - Film with Daria Martin - Associate Director
Vol Retour (The Way Back Home) - Paris Opera - Revival Director
100% Cuban (working title) - Ballet Rakatan (Cuba)
At The Threshold - Film with Daria Martin - Associate Director
Neither/Footfalls - Staatsoper Berlin (dir.Katie Mitchell) - Associate Director
The Way Back Home - ENO/Young Vic (dir. Katie Mitchell) - Associate Director
The Man Jesus - Lyric Belfast/National Tour
Le Vin Herbé - Staatsoper Berlin (dir. Katie Mitchell) - Associate Director
The Bridge - Mimbre
Time/Space - Living Dance Studio (Beijing)
Arsenic and Old Lace - Derby Playhouse

AS MOVEMENT DIRECTOR

The Mirror Crack'd - Salisbury Playhouse (dir. Melly Still)
Jenufa - Dutch National Opera (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Ariadne auf Naxos - Festival d'Aix en Provence
Girls and Boys - Royal Court (dir. Lyndsey Turner)
Miranda - Opéra Comique Paris (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Common - National Theatre (dir. Jeremy Herrin)
OIL - Almeida Theatre (dir. Carrie Cracknell)
Pelléas et Melisande - Festival d'Aix en Provence (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Blue/Orange - Young Vic (dir. Matthew Xia)
Lucia di Lammermoor - Royal Opera House (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Cleansed - National Theatre (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Alcina - Festival d'Aix en Provence (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire - National Theatre (dir. Lyndsey Turner)
The Cherry Orchard - Young Vic (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Happy Days - Young Vic (dir. Natalie Abrahami)
How the Whale Became - ROH2 (dir. Natalie Abrahami)
Hamlet - RSC (dir. David Farr)
Hansel & Gretel - National Theatre (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Blackta - Young Vic (dir. David Lan)
Playhouse - Orange Tree Theatre (dir. Martin Crimp)
The Trial of Ubu - Hampstead Theatre (dir. Katie Mitchell)
A Woman Killed with Kindness - National Theatre (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Clemency - ROH2 (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Beauty and the Beast - National Theatre (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Dancing at Lughnasa - Clwyd (dir. Kate Wasserberg)
Idomeneo - English National Opera (dir. Katie Mitchell)
The Cat in the Hat - National Theatre (dir. Katie Mitchell)
Midsummer Night’s Dream - English Touring Opera (dir. James Conway) - Assistant Director